


Mysterious Small Talks at 2AM and an Elopement

by tedde01



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, translated work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26507701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tedde01/pseuds/tedde01
Summary: One day they both realized that the world they lived in was a controlled game.
Relationships: Sebastian/Male Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	Mysterious Small Talks at 2AM and an Elopement

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends! Please read the note before you start reading!  
> I wrote this in Chinese at first but I really wanted to share it on AO3 so I translated it by myself. English is my second language and I'm not very good at vocabs or tenses. I really hope my English doesn't make it too hard to read! If you have any suggestions on grammars, word choices, punctuations, slangs...or any others, please please feel free to comment me! I'm very happy to see comments!  
> Sorry again for any uncleared translations!!!  
> I still hope you would enjoy it!❤  
> By the way, my Male Player in this fandom is called Corey, and his dog names Bonus ^^ which is also the name of my own dog (in the game)

**Please read the note before you start reading**

On the first night Sebastian moved into my house, we laid side by side in that double-sized bed, both sober and silent. It was 2am before dawn. We should have gone to bed – at least I should have fallen asleep, but I couldn’t. I felt sorry for Sebastian. “Please don't mind,” I said, “If you don’t…If you don’t like it, I can sneak into Lewis’ house and fill out the divorce form.”

Sebastian did not speak.

“If there are really no solutions, just follow the instructions of the system.” I continued, “I know no one wants to eat cold sashimi early in the morning…You can take it and put it in the fridge.”

Sebastian remained silent for a while, and then I heard him sighed disapprovingly. “You don’t have to worry about me so much,” he said. “I’m only an NPC, but you are the one who moves around. Just follow the instructions as before. You don't even have to talk to others. You work every day, you go home and sleep, that's it.”

“You are not.” I said, “You’re not only an NPC…I married you this morning!”

Before marriage, the problem was the elephant in the room: Everyone would have noticed, but in the end, only Sebastian and I saw it. On that day, I proposed to him, gave him a mermaid pendant, and he readily agreed to fulfill the engagement - it was then when I felt a strange whirlpool throwing me out, dizzy and blank, with only one fixed thought arose suddenly: Wait, why should I marry him?

I looked up to Sebastian, who looked as if he was also struck by such thunder. I’ve been working hard to fill up the ten hearts on Sebastian’s Friendship list, but now, I found myself seeing him to be ordinary…at least not as charming as a "boyfriend". I presumed that he felt the same, as he held the pendant in front of my eyes, and stared at me speechlessly: “I just promised to marry you?”

“Yes.” I answered, and then I felt that dizziness again. The whole room seemed to be shaking. Though I found out later that it was called "flashback", no one knew anything at that time. Only in a subtle way have we realized the same thing: Ah, I saw the elephant.

"Come on," I jumped up, "There's still time. Isn't there two days left? Get on your bike and leave, as far as possible! I won't say a word to anyone. That’s all I can do for you... "

Sebastian, still holding his grip on the pendant, glared at me inexplicably: "What are you talking about?"

You could only dream of escaping from marriage. As long as you started taking actions, you would find out that you were still under control, as if there was an invisible hand, managing and planning out everything for you. Well, if you insisted, you could barely be called “free” from 2am to 6am – I also learned later that it was called “Saving”. As preparing for the wedding during the two days, I finally realized how absurd my life has used to be. Every face that I have greeted was like a manipulated robot – I felt a little relieved now since Sebastian was no longer a “robot”. If you took a look at the social panel page, you were able to read everyone's birthdays and preferences, hand out gifts repeatedly to fill up more “hearts”, while people would reply you with the same words and make the same expressions...It was so easy to understand, yet so creepy to really understand how it worked out! I would say I might as well find peace and love in my chicken coop, because you never know how many iridium eggs they would lay everyday!

"I'll arrange everything." Sebastian read the lines with a simper. I guessed the system was forcing him to smile like a responsible fiancé. “I'll see you in three days, Corey!”

As a result, after three days, we walked to the center of the town amid the cheers of the crowd, wearing fake happy smiles and decent suits to attend the absurd wedding. The crowd was too busy laughing and making noises to even notice us – Sebastian and I have to avoid each other's eyes, hold each other's hands nervously, despite we still looked happy, thanked to the game system. The kiss of the newlyweds has pushed the drama to the climax. Sebastian felt stiff and sweaty when I touched his lip.

I felt sorry for him all of a sudden, and such mood has driven me sleepless that wedding night.

"You're not only an NPC…I married you this morning!”

I sound pretty vexatious, but Sebastian did not argue a word. He accepted his new identity helplessly.

"I know, I know." He said, "but we can't get out of this life now. maybe we only have the opportunity to chat like this after two in the middle of the night. Thank you so much for your sashimi. You are right, I really prefer it for lunch...”

“Wait, ok now,” I said, “Sashimi aside, don’t you think it’s too weird? You can even propose for a wedding if you continue sending gifts everyday. How does Pelican Town operate so far?”

“But you are a member of the town now, and you married me.” Sebastian pointed out, “To be honest, I don't think it's a bad thing.”

I was stunned for a moment: "What?"

"At least it's better than me waking up by myself in a basement like that.” Sebastian explained, “You are nice. You are the one who can talk to me. It's better to have two of them together than to be with others. We don't have to do anything. We just need to cooperate, and follow the instructions. We're safe. That's all.”

Then he added, "You don't even have to really fall in love with me."

I guessed this was the theme of this "world": serenity, peace, happiness in ignorance. This was very philosophical. Thanked to the inexplicable operator, I had read a biography of Anatole France in the library for some reason. On one page, this famous writer said: 

> _Ignorance is a necessary condition for the existence of life itself. If we know everything, we will not be able to live for a moment._

I couldn’t agree any more. When I realized that life was in fact someone else's game, I could no longer return to those ignorant and happy moments. Sebastian should be the same. I couldn’t imagine what he should say to Robin every Monday when visiting her - or maybe he would just keep silent. NPCs were just background boards for players. "She is really my mother in name,” Sebastian once explained to me, “to be exact, my life belongs to the person who wrote my data. She and I are parallel at this level. We are just NPCs, but on top of this, she has been given the role of a mother, just as I am now given the status of a husband. It is the same.” 

What did I say then? I said, “No, no. As long as you understand that you are an NPC, your life starts to only belong to yourself.” He looked so pitiful, so I tried my best to comfort him, but did this “life” really belong to us? 

In order to make more money before spring, I had to follow the instructions, dig in the mine until 12am everyday, and then return to collect cheese and wine in the basement. I always plunged into bed and fell asleep quickly after 2am. Before that, I had imagined many possibilities of getting along with Sebastian. I predicted them one by one, even those that seemed to be exaggerated. Yet when I really faced him, all the time between us has turned into tiredness and powerlessness. We got married in the winter, but winter has always been endless. On another winter night, when I got out of the basement and pushed myself into the quilt at 2am, a hand stretched out from the side to help me tuck in carefully. 

“Hey,” I said. The fire was burning like melted caramel, sweetly and quietly, and I was too sleepy to hold on to chat with Sebastian.

He didn't say a word but patted me softly, as if to pat a baby. That night, I dreamt of my “grandfather” who has already passed away. He drove a flock of sheep from one end of the meadow to the other and then into the fence. A young woman with long, bright-orange hair passed by his fence and said hello to him. She had a baby in her arms, biting a pacifier and wearing a one-piece suit printed with the pattern of Junimos, and their eyes were familiar black. “Say hello to grandfather Proteus, Sebby. Say hello.” She said, and the baby waved his tender little hand to try to touch “grandfather”. I looked at the scene beyond my dream, but the little hand reached out to me somehow. The tender, warm and soft touch landed on my cheeks. 

“Corey, you are having a nightmare.” Someone in the daze murmured, “You've kicked the covers off…Come on, come over here. It's cold at night.”

The touch eventually slid from my face to the side of my body, and I was gently pulled into the warmness. I had no idea where I was in my dream. The meadow suddenly stretched out to the horizon, covered with fresh green in spring and bright, vigorous wild flowers. I struggled to run forward, but a hug caught me just in time. I buried my face in it and held it tightly. The hug hesitated for a moment, and then it held me back. I didn't dream again.

“I dreamt of you,” the next day, while managing to plunge myself into bed 2am on time, I tried my best to fight against drowsiness and tell him about it. “Last night I dreamt of you, and I'm sure it was you, because I heard someone call you.”

Sebastian listened, and then quietly asked, “How did I look in your dream?”

"How did you look…I don't really remember, but it must be you. Have you dyed your hair before? You should look good as always if you have the color of your mother's hair.”

The fire in the fireplace went out, and I realized that I had forgotten to add firewood. “Damn,” I grumbled, “but it's already too late to chop new firewood...”

“Hey, it's okay,” Sebastian said, “We only have four more hours to go, not a big problem. You come over here.”

I moved towards him with my eyes closed. Sebastian has laid in the bed for a while, and his temperature has warmed the other side of the bed. “Ah, that's what it feels like.” I whispered.

“What does it feel like?”

“In the dream. It's the same feeling in the dream.” I sighed on purpose, “I had a hug in my dream. Am I going to have another one in these four hours?”

For a while no one spoke or moved. Just as I was about to fall asleep, a familiar embrace crept up quietly and brought me into it. I buried my face in it and held it tightly. The hug hesitated for a moment, and then it held me back. I didn't dream that night.

Now I finally understood that these loopholes were impossible to be fixed. We couldn’t go back to the past, but we still have other opportunities and other options. The morning after that, I woke up at six, jumped out of bed to find Sebastian, accepted his coffee, and gave him a deep kiss. Kisses were necessary in this game, and we exchanged kisses every morning. But we've been avoiding kisses in the past by only kissing on the corners of our lips, in Sebastian's words, “empty gesture”; but I was not going to do that with him anymore. I cupped his face with my hands. His eyes opened widely because of surprise – they were the black that I’ve been familiar with. They appeared in my dream, now they came back to me. I saw my own reflection in these deep, sorrow, gentle black eyes.

I saw myself kissed him on the lips. A strange yet fierce whirlpool threw me in, leaving me the feeling of dizziness, just like the day when I proposed to Sebastian. The throb that has always remained unaware to me rose from my heart at that moment. Sebastian put his hands on my shoulder, but he didn’t push me away until we finished that deep kiss. I saw his pale face started to turn pink, even the tips of his ears were red.

“You, how could you...” He flustered to cover up mouth, then came to a halt, “We can move freely?”

I grabbed his hand and rushed out of the door, knowing we didn't have much time left. “Come on, Sebastian, is your bike working well now?”

“Working? Any time. I take care of it every two days...” He stopped abruptly. He understood, and reacted faster than I did. He grabbed the helmet and thrusted it into my hand. “Of course it’s working well. I’ll make it work even if it doesn’t work.”

“Don’t talk like that!”

I put on my helmet at random, and squeezed into the back seat of his bike before I could adjust the tightness. As soon as I sat down, the motorcycle slid out through the snow. The cold blast air in the early winter morning has wrapped us up, split up into pieces by the accelerating speed, and then was left behind. The snow-covered pine trees, wood fences, stone paths, hillsides, all of which were rapidly flashing backward. We dashed out of the town along the path, over the tracks, up the mounds, into the vast white wilderness, and towards the roads at the far horizon. The wind was so strong, but wearing such thin clothes, no one ever felt cold. We only felt free, the kind of freedom that burst out from the bottom of my heart, as if nothing could stop us – Pelican Town couldn’t, nightmares couldn’t, winters couldn’t, nor could this rigid, collapsed world. Now I finally understood that these loopholes couldn’t be fixed. We were unable to go back to the past, but we still have other opportunities and other options. I held Sebastian's waist tightly, just like the warm embrace from yesterday, and suddenly regretted for not holding his hand tight at the wedding.

“Sebastian!” I yelled in the wind, “Don't forget me next time, I’m going to marry you again!”

“The wind is too strong to hear you clearly!” His voice came from the front, and was blown away behind me.

“I said!” I yelled, holding him closer. The wind was getting stronger and stronger. The snow fell from the sky. The tracks and marks we have left on the ground were quickly erased by the snow. Will we be erased as well?

“I said, Sebastian! I want to marry you! Hey, I will marry you, I’m definitely going to! Remember me! Remember me till next time!”

The wild, strange whirlpool stroke me again. This time it was not just dizzy; it howled like the cold blast winter wind, whistling and beating on us, as if it was going to tear us into pieces and throw us into the boundless sea of time and space. I closed my eyes and felt myself falling, falling, being dragged and lifted up again, until I became light again. Through the cold, my body has slowly landed into warm and soft peace. It smelled like spring.

//

I was dug up from my bed by the mayor on the first day I moved to Pelican Town from Zuzu City. He sent me 500g together with a roll of paper, and asked if I needed a dog. I said yes without thinking, and it was then when a name came up to me unexpectedly. “Bonus!” I said, “If I have a dog, I'll call him Bonus.”

“My, isn’t that lovely?” The mayor held up his hat and said goodbye to me, “Although I feel that I've heard of this name before…Where is it exactly...”

I unfolded the roll of paper, which was actually a list of the townspeople I needed to visit. There was also a map attached. “You may want to visit from the north to the south,” wrote Lewis, “The first house in the north is Robin's. I think you should have met her already.”

I followed the map and walked along the north path to Robin's house, which was 9:30 in the morning. Parsnips were planted in the ground. I just watered it before I went out. The green pine trees were thick and straight. Have I ever seen them covered with snow? – It was supposed to be a cold winter, with the wind howling outside and the fireplace warm inside. Was that a dream I ever had before?

“Oh, it's you.” said Robin. Her long bright-orange hair has been neatly tied up. The color was so familiar to me. “I apologize for what I have said about your house. It was so rude. If you need anything, just ask me.”

I blinked. The strong sense of Deja Vu gave me such a subtle chaos, that I blurted out, abruptly, “Do you have a son?”

“What?” She was stunned for a moment, then giggled, “How’d you know? Have you met him? Oh, he should still be sleeping. Do you need me to wake him up?”

The door of the basement finally opened with Robin's constant knocking, revealing a pair of black eyes. “What's up, mom? I'm still sleeping.”

“Sebby, let's meet a new friend. Say hello to our neighbor who just moved in!” Robin pushed the door seam open. “Did you stay up late again last night? I saw your graphic novels. You must have stayed up late again...”

Those black eyes squinted, yawned, and then looked over Robin's shoulder at me. “Oh, hi,” he said, “So you are...”

Robin left us with spaces, so now I could see his face, undoubtedly and completely, right in front of me. I was so familiar with that face that I was about to cry. Ah, I was sure I haven’t read through the list of townspeople yet, neither did I know other names besides “Robin” and “Lewis”. But a string of letters appeared in my head as clearly as saying “I'm going to call my dog Bonus” without any hesitations. Sebastian. I knew him. I didn’t know why, but I just knew that his name was Sebastian. His birthday was on the 10th of winter. He liked sashimi, pumpkin soup, void eggs, frozen tear, rabbit’s foot…He gave me coffee in the morning. We used to sleep in the same bed…We used to sleep together?

“Sebastian.” I reached out my right hand nervously. “You are Sebastian. Hello. I just moved to Pelican Town yesterday. My name is...”

Sebastian looked at me with eyes wide open. After a while, he handed me his hand. It was cold, pale and thin. I must have held it at some grand ceremony, and I was sure I would hold the same hand at another ceremony in the future. I would not let it go again.

“Corey.” He frowned blankly, but in a certain tone, “Your name is Corey. I don't know why, but I think I know you. Have we met somewhere before?”

END


End file.
